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North  Carolina  in  the  War  Between  the  States 


ADDRESS 


HON.   CHARLES    M.   STEDMAN 

OF     NORTH     CAROLINA 

Delivered  at  Greensboro,  N.  C,  October  5,  1923 

[Printed  in  the  Congressional  Record  of  May  6,  1924,  by  request  of 

Hon.  Euward  Pou] 

United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  ladies  and  gentlemen :  I 
esteem  it  a  high  privilege  to  deliver  an  address  before  a  convention  of 
the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

Their  history  is  one  resplendent  with  great  deeds,  many  of  them 
gilded  with  romantic  luster  which  bas  cast  its  radiance  throughout  the 
world.  This  organization  owes  its  origin  and  life  to  an  association  of 
Southern  women  beginning  in  the  days  of  the  War  between  the  States 
for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  the  wounded,  and  after  the  war  was  over 
in  providing  cemeteries  for  the  Confederate  dead,  many  of  whom  slept 
upon  the  battle  fields  where  they  fell.  When  it  was  not  possible  to 
bring  them  home,  they  buried  many  of  tbem  at  the  same  spot  and 
erected  a  monument  that  the  stranger  might  know  he  was  treading  on 
hallowed  ground. 

After  the  formation  of  the  Confederate  Veterans'  Association,  many 
of  these  associations  became  known  as  the  Daughters  of  the  Con- 
federacy. 

Their  fidelity  and  loyalty  to  the  memory  of  the  Confederate  soldier 
has  scarcely  a  parallel  in  history,  and  is  and  will  be  an  inspiration  to 
the  people  of  every  land  who  recognize  those  great  qualities  as  es- 
sential to  the  moral  grandeur  of  mankind. 

When  I  received  an  invitation  from  the  distinguished  president  of  the 
North  Carolina  Division  of  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  to 
deliver  an  address  this  evening  it  was  accompanied  with  a  request  that 
I  adopt  as  the  theme  of  my  discourse  "  North  Carolina  in  the  war  be- 
tween the  States."  The  sau  request  was  made  in  connection  with  an 
address  recently  delivered  by  me  at  the  Confederate  reunion  held  at 
Winston.  I  adopted  without  hesitancy  the  suggestion  as  to  my  address 
at  Winston  and  shall  do  likewise  as  to  the  address  I  shall  deliver  this 
evening,  for  North  Ca.olina  and  the  Confederate  soldier  will  ever  be 
inseparably  connected  in  a  record  of  glory.  A  subject  so  splendid  in 
itself,  so  replete  with  great  and  heroic  action,  seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of 
any  speaker.  When  I  reflect  upon  the  self-denial  and  the  unshaken 
fortitude  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  during  that  unhappy  period, 
when  the  splendid  and  unexcelled  achievements  of  North  Carolina  sol- 
diers during  that  same  era  pass  in  review  before  my  mental  vision,  I 
can  but  feel  my  inadequacy' to  so  great  an  undertaking.  If  aught  I  say 
shall  seem  to  detract  in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  merit  of  any 
Confederate  soldier  from  any  State  or  from  my  loyalty  to  this  great 
Republic,  whose  flag  protects  and  shields  all  its  citizens,  I  ask  that  you 
do  not  so  construe  my  words  but  ascribe  them  to  the  enthusiasm  which 
characterizes  all  the  children  of  North  Carolina  for  her  great  name. 
The  character  and  reputation  of  every  Confederate  soldier  will  ever  be 
100172 — 815 


40 


near  to  my  heart,  and  the  glory  and  honor  of  our  common  country  will 
ever  command  my  sincere  and  unchanging  fealty. 

The  part  acted  by  North  Carolina  in  the  greatest  drama  of  modern 
times — the  war  between  the  States — history  will  preserve  without 
blemish  upon  its  pages.  It  has  long  since  passed  beyond  the  pale  of 
legitimate  controversy  that  in  the  number  of  troops  furnished  to  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  in  proportion  to  its  white  population  and  in  the 
losses  sustained  by  those  troops,  she  stands  first  of  all  the  States  which 
make  up  that  galaxy  of  great  names. 

It  is  likewise  true  that  no  troops  in  any  corps  of  the  Confederate 
Army  were  more  thoroughly  equipped  and  provided  for  in  every  way 
necessary  to  their  efficiency  and  comfort,  both  as  to  arms,  food,  and 
clothing,  than  were  the  soldiers  from  North  Carolina. 

In  considering  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by  North  Carolina  to 
the  Confederate  Army,  her  attachment  to  the  Union  of  the  States  will 
ever  demand  your  consideration  and  attention,  and  her  loyalty  to  her 
sister  States  of  the  Confederacy  when  once  her  faith  was  pledged 
will  claim  the  admiration  of  all  who  have  an  honest  pride  in  national 
honor  wherever  it  may  be  found.  North  Carolina  was  next  to  the  last 
State  to  secede  from  the  Union,  and  in  February,  1861,  voted  against 
secession  by  more  than  30,000  majority ;  yet  with  a  white  population 
of  629,942  and  a  military  population  of  115,369,  being  one-ninth  of  the 
military  population  of  the  11  seceded  States,  she  sent  to  the  Confederate 
Army  125,000  men,  one-fifth  of  its  entire  enrollment,  which  was  600,000, 
according  to  the  accepted  estimate  approved  by  General  Cooper,  the 
adjutanf  general  of  the  Confederacy.  Maj.  A.  Gordon,  who  was  on  the 
staff  of  the  adjutant  general  of  North  Carolina,  and  who  was  thor- 
oughly conversant  with  the  organization  of  the  North  Carolina  troops, 
estimated  her  contribution  to  the  Confederate  Army  at  127,000.  Gov- 
ernor Vance,  after  a  thorough  examination  of  the  records  of  the  ad- 
jutant's office,  stated  that  number  to  be  125,000,  and  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe, 
who;  at  the  request  of  the  State  Literary  and  Historical  Association  of 
North  Carolina,  gave  to  the  consideration  of  this  subject  careful  re- 
search, adopted  the  figures  given  by  Governor  Vance,  and  in  his  report 
says  they  are  as  correct  as  it  is  possible  to  make  them.  Lieut.  Gen. 
Stephen  D.  Lee,  in  an  address  delivered  at  Asheville,  N.  C,  stated 
North  Carolina  furnished  22,942  more  troops  than  any  other  State. 
Of  the  troops  furnished  to  the  Confederate  Army  by  North  Carolina 
four  regiments  of  infantry  and  one  of  cavalry  were  sent  to  the  Army 
of  Tennessee. 

Of  the  soldiers  present  for  duty,  North  Carolina  had  a  larger  pro- 
portion than  naturally  fell  to  her  lot.  They  were  ever  ready  in  camp 
or  upon  the  field  of  battle.  Of  the  92  regiments  which  assailed  and 
defeated  the  right  flank  of  McClellan's  Army  in  front  of  Richmond, 
46  were  from  North  Carolina.  Of  the  16  brigades  engaged  in  the 
first   day's   fight   at  Gettysburg,   7   were   from   North   Carolina. 

The  First  North  Carolina  Regiment,  commanded  by  Col.  D.  H. 
Hill,  later  a  lieutenant  general,  was  the  first  regiment  sent  by  the 
Government  to  Yorktown  and  the  first  to  arrive  at  Bethel.  Over  800 
of  the  1,200  present  when  the  action  commenced  were  from  North 
Carolina. 

The  first  Confederate  soldier  killed  in  battle  was  Henry  L.  Wyatt, 
of  the  Edgecombe  Guards,  Company  A,  of  that  regiment,  who  fell  at 
Bethel  on  the  10th  of  June,  1861. 

At  Reams  Station,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1864,  after  a  previous 
assault  by  other  troops  had  failed,  the  three  North  Carolina  brigades 
of  Cooke,  Lane,  and  McRae,  in  number  less  than  2,000  men,  drove 
100172 — 815 


the  Federal  troops  from  the  field,  capturing  their  breastworks,  with 
2,150  prisoners,  2,100  stands  of  small  arms,  12  stands  of  colors,  9 
guns  and  caissons.  The  result  of  this  brilliant  engagement  was  hailed 
with  great  rejoicing  throughout  the  South  and  shed  a  declining  luster 
upon  the  Confederate  battle  flag,  upon  which  the  sun  of  victory  was 
about  to  go  down  forever.  Gen.  R.  E.  Lee,  publicly  and  repeatedly 
stated  that  not  only  North  Carolina  but  the  whole  Confederacy  owed 
a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Lane's,  Cooke's,  and  McRae's  brigades  which 
could  never  be  repaid.  He  also  wrote  to  Governor  Vance  expressing 
his  high  appreciation  of  their  services.  I  will  read  his  letter: 
Headquarters  Armx  Northern  Virginia, 

August  29,  1864. 
His  Excellency  Z.  B.  Vance, 

Governor  of  North  Carolina^,  Raleigh,  Nt   C: 
I   have  been  frequently   called   upon  to  mention  the  services  of 
the,.  North  Carolina  soldiers  in  this  army,:  but  their  gallantry  and 
conduct    were    never    more    deserving   of    admiration    than    in    the 
engagement  at   Re.ams,  Station  .on,  the- 25th  oiltimo. 

The  brigades  of  Generals  Cooke,  MeRae,.  and  Lane,  the  last 
under  the  temporary  command  of  General  Conner,  advanced 
through  the  thick  abatis  of  felled  trees,  under  a  heavy  fire  of 
musketry  and  artillery,  and  carried  the  enemy's  works  with  a 
steady  courage  that  elicited,  the  warm  commendation  of  , their 
corps  and  division,  commanders  .and  the  admiration  of  the  Army. 

On  the  same  occasion  the  brigade  of  General  Barringer  bore  a 
conspicous  part  in  the  operations  of  the  Cavalry,  which  were  no 
less  distinguished  for  boldness  and  efficiency  than  those  of  the 
Infantry.  ,  .  . 

If  the  men  who   remain   in  North   Carolina  share  the  .spirit   of 
those  they  have  sent  to.  the  field,   as  I   doubt  not  that   they   do. 
her  defense  may  be  securely .  intrusted  in  their  hands. 
I  am  with  great  respect. 

Your  obedient  servant,  R.    E.   Lee,  General. 

The  regiments  from  North  Carolina  engaged  in  this  battle  again 
illustrated  those  high  qualities  which  will  perpetuate  the  name  and 
fame  of  the  Confederate  soldier  in  years  to  come.  Unshaken  by  the 
fall  of  Vicksburg  and  the  disaster  of  'Gettysburg,  undismayed  amidst 
the  general  gloom  which  was  settling  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  South, 
they  exhibited  the  same  enthusiasm  and  valor  which  had  marked  their 
conduct  upon  every  field  where  they  stood  for  the  honor,  glory,  and 
renown   of  their  State. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Confederate  Infantry  who  were  engaged  in 
the  last  battle  fought  at  Appomattox  were  from  North  Carolina. 
They  were  commanded  by  Maj.  Gen.  Bryan  Grimes,  a  North  Carolinian. 
The  last  charge  made  and  the  last  volley  fired  at  Appomattox  was 
made  by  a  North  Carolina  brigade,  commanded  by  Gen.  W.  R.  Cox,  of 
North  Carolina. 

The  last  capture  of  cannon  by  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was 
made  by  Roberts's  brigade  of  North  Carolina  Cavalry.  - 

No  State  stacked  so  many  muskets  at  Appomattox  as 'did  North 
Carolina. 

These  facts  are  beyond  dispute.  The  accuracy  of  the  first  two  just 
mentioned  In  connection  with  the  fight  at  Appomattox  has  been 
established  by  a  statement  made  in  writing  in  the  year  1879  by 
GeneraL  Grimes,  which  will  be  found  in  volume  11  of  Moore's  History 
of  North  Carolina,  and  which  has  never  been  contradicted.  The  state- 
ment of  General  Grimes  is  corroborated  by  a  statement  made  by 
100172 — 815 


Gen.  William  R.  Cox,  which  was  published  during  the  same  year,  in 
volume  11,  Moore's  History  of  North  Carolina.  If  more  evidence 
could  possibly  be  needed,  it  is  furnished  by  the  statements  of  Brig. 
Gen.  W.  L.  London,  of  the  Second  Brigade  in  the  North  Carolina 
Division  of  the  United  Confederate  Veterans,  who  was  serving  on 
General  Grimes's  staff  on  the  morning  of  the  surrender,  and  of  Hon. 
Henry  A.  London,  of  the  Thirty-second  North  Carolina  Regiment,  who 
carried  the  last  orders  at  Appomattox. 

Wherever  the  flag  of  North  Carolina  floated  on  land  or  sea  it  was 
without  tarnish,  the  emblem  of  honor,  of  courage,  and  unchanging 
fortitude  which  endured  to  the  end. 

The  Shenandoah,  commanded  by  James  Iredell  Waddell,  a  North 
Carolinian,  flew  the  Confederate  battle  flag  at  its  masthead  more'  than 
six  months  after  General  Lee's  surrender. 

Shall  their  immortality  be  reckoned  by  their  blood?  Forty  thousand 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  soldiers  from  North  Carolina  gave  their 
lives  to  the  Confederacy,  more  than  one  third  of  her  entire  military 
population,  and  a  loss  more  than  double  in  percentage  than  that  sus- 
tained by  the  soldiers  from  any  other  State. 

The  entire  Confederate  loss  during  the  Civil  War,  killed  on  the 
battle  field  and  died  of  wounds,  was  74,524.  The  loss  of  North  Caro- 
lina soldiers  was  19,762,.  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole. 

Of  the  10  regiments  of  either  side  which  sustained  the  heaviest  loss 
in  any  one  engagement  during  the  war,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Tennessee, 
Illinois,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey  furnished  one  each, 
and  North  Carolina  furnished  three. 

The  Confederate  loss  at  Gettysburg  was  2,592  killed  and  12,707 
wounded.  Of  the  killed,  770  were  from  North  Carolina,  more  than 
one-fourth. 

Wherever  the  tide  of  battle  was  strongest  and  the  harvest  of  death 
greatest  on  that  field  of  carnage,  there  could  be  seen  the  battle  flag  of 
North  Carolina.  Her  dead  sons  were  found  far  up  its  blood-stained 
slopes.  The  three  brigades  at  Gettysburg  suffering  the  heaviest  loss 
were  Pettigrew's,  from  North  Carolina,  with  190  killed  ;  Davis's,  from 
Mississippi,  composed  of  three  regiments  from  Mississippi  and  one  regi- 
ment from  North  Carolina,  with  180  killed  ;  and  Daniels's,  from  North 
Carolina,  with  165  killed.  No  brigade  in  Pickett's  division,  whose 
laurels  won  upon  that  field  I  trust  may  grow  brighter  with  each  revolv- 
ing year,  suffered  so  great  a  loss  as  the  Twenty-sixth  North  Carolina 
Regiment.  Its  loss  was  86  killed  and  502  wounded,  the  largest  sus- 
tained by  any  regiment  on  either  side  during  the  Civil  War  ;  Company 
P  of  that  regiment,  with  3  officers  and  84  men,  lost  every  officer  and 
83  of  the  84  men  in  killed  and  wounded.  Thirteen  standard  bearers  of 
the  regiment  were  shot  down.  Upon  that  same  field  one  company  in 
the  Eleventh  North  Carolina  Regiment  lost  2  of  its  3  officers  killed 
and  34  of  38  men  killed  or  wounded.  The  color  company  of  the  Thirty- 
eighth  North  Carolina  Regiment  had  every  man  either  killed  or 
wounded.  At  Sharpsburg  the  Third  North  Carolina  Regiment  lost  330 
in  killed  and  wounded  of  520  men  which  ft  carried  into  action,  and  upon 
that  field  Company  C  of  the  Fourteenth  North  Carolina  Regiment  lost 
every  man,  either  killed  or  wounded.  At  Chancellorsville  the  same 
company,  which  carried  into  the  fight  43  men,  lost  every  one  in  killed 
or  wounded  but  one. 

The  charge  of  the  Fifth  North  Carolina  Regiment  at  Williamsburg 
ranks  in  military  history  with  that  of  the  Light  Brigade  at  Balaklava. 
The  regiment  lost  197  killed  and  wounded  of  240  men  which  it  car- 
ried into  action.  That  charge  gave  to  immortality  its  illustrious  com- 
mander, Col.  D.  K.  McRae. 
100172 — 815 


At  Seven  Pines  tbe  Fourth  North  Carolina  Regiment  went  into  the 
fight  with  25  officers  and  520  noncommissioned  officers  and  men  and  lost 
in  killed  and  wounded  every  officer  and  462  men. 

At  Bristoe  Station  the  Twenty-seventh  North  Carolina  Regiment 
lost  291  of  426  men  in  less  than  half  an  hour. 

The  four  regiments  of  North  Carolina  Infantry — the  Twenty-ninth, 
the  Thirty-ninth,  the  Fifty-ninth,  and  the  Sixtieth — and  the  Sixth 
Regiment  of  North  Carolina  Cavalry,  upon  the  field  of  Chickamauga, 
rivaled  the  deeds  of  their  brothers  in  the  East  and  linked  their  names 
forever  with  imperishable  renown.  It  has  been  established  by  the 
highest  and  most  impartial  testimony  that  "  the  point  where  the  top- 
most wave  of  the  tide  of  southern  battle  broke  nearest  to  the  un- 
broken line  of  Thomas's  defense "  was  reached  by  the  Fifty-eighth 
North  Carolina  Infantry.  This  was  the  unanimous  report  made  by 
five  commissioners  appointed  by  Governor  Carr,  of  North  Carolina,  to 
locate  the  position  of  the  North  Carolina  regiments  upon  the  field  of 
Chickamauga.  One  of  the  commissioners  was  an  officer  of  high  repu- 
tation in  the  Federal  Army,  who  afterwards  made  his  home  in  North 
Carolina  and  won  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him.  I 
allude  to  Judge  Clinton  A.  Cilley. 

When  stating  the  exceptionally  great  losses  sustained  by  the  troops 
from  North  Carolina  there  is  no  intention  to  assert  that  they  were 
braver  or  better  than  those  of  any  of  her  sister  States.  The  soldier 
from  North  Carolina  desires  no  praise,  no  laudation,  no  eulogy  at  the 
expense  of  his  brother  Confederate  soldiers.  The  fortune  of  battle  on 
many  different  fields  furnished  North  Carolina  soldiers  the  opportunity 
for  their  great  achievements,  and  they  ever  proved  themselves  equal 
to  the  occasion. 

Lieut.  Gen.  A.  P.  Hill,  when  asked  what  troops  he  preferred  to  com- 
mand, replied  :  "  Unquestionably  North  Carolinians  ;  not  that  they  are 
braver  where  all  are  brave ;  but,  brave  as  the  bravest,  they  are  the 
most  obedient  to  command."  To  this  trait  of  character — obedience  to 
orders — has  been  ascribed  their  preeminence. 

Without  underestimating  this  great  quality  in  a  soldier,  it  will  be 
found  upon  scrutiny  that  a  higher,  nobler,  and  more  exalted  virtue 
than  even  the  spirit  of  obedience  to  orders  gave  to  the  Confederate 
soldier,  from  whatever  State  he  came,  his  superiority  on  the  battle 
field. 

A  supreme  sense  of  duty  was  the  cardinal  trait  of  character  which 
gave  him  that  moral  power  against  which  it  is  vain  to  hurl  trained 
legions  and  endless  battalions.  It  was  the  dauntless  moral  resolution 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  South  which  made  their  great  deeds  possible. 

Without  that  moral  power  to  sustain  them,  the  incomparable  legions 
of  Lee  would  have  in  vain  struggled  for  so  long  a  time  to  roll  back 
the  tide  of  invasion  across  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  and  the  marvelous 
campaigns  of  Stonewall  Jackson  would  have  found  no  place  in  history 
to  adorn  its  pages  with  a  halo  of  glory  which  will  live  through  ages  yet 
unborn.  Neither  famine  nor  pestilence  nor  mighty  armies  carrying  in 
their  track  the  destruction  of  all  that  was  near  and  dear  to  them  could 
subdue  their  invincible  will.  In  the  splendid  future  which  awaits  the 
southern  portion  of  this  Republic  there  is  no  character  the  study  of 
which  will  more  elevate  its  citizens  and  fit  them  for  its  blessings  than 
that  of  the  Confederate  soldier.  The  capstone  of  the  arch  of  his  glory 
was  the  moral  power  which  sustained  him  upon  the  battle  field  and 
which  will  forever  perpetuate  his  fame. 

Ah  incident  which  illustrates  the  supreme  sense  of  duty  which  can 
only  be  imparted  by  moral  firmness,  as  exhibited  by  a  North  Carolina 
100172—815 


soldier,  deserves  to  be  recorded  amidst  the  feats  of  heroes.  The  con- 
duct of  a  private  by  the  name  of  Tillman,  in  the  Forty-fourth  North 
Carolina  Regiment,  had  attracted  the  favorable  notice  of  his  brigade 
commander,  and  he  was,  at  his  request,  attached  to  the  color  guard. 
Tillman's  name  was  also  honorably  mentioned  in  orders  of  the  day  from 
brigade  headquarters.  Soon  thereafter,  in  front  of  Petersburg,  the  regi- 
ment became  severely  engaged  with  the  enemy  and  suffered  heavy  loss. 
The  flag  several  times  fell,  as  its  bearers  were  shot  down  in  quick  succes- 
sion. Tillman  seized  it  and  again  carried  it  to  the  front.  It  was  but 
an  instant,  and'  he,  too,  fell.  As  one  of  his  comrades  stooped  to  raise 
the  flag  again  the  dying  6oldier  touched  him  and  in  tones  made  weak 
by  the  approach  of  death  said  :  "  Tell  the  general  that  I  died  with  the 
flag."  The  tender  memories  and  happy  associations  connected  with  his 
boyhood's  home  faded  from  his  vision  as  he  rejoiced  in  the  consciousness 
that  he  had  proved  Worthy  of  the  trust  which  had  been  confided  to  hinr. 

Wolfe  died  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham  the  death  of  a  hero,  and  as 
his  spirit  took  its  flight  to  another  world,  left  as  a  legacy  to  his 
countrymen  words  which  will  forever  live. 

■  Nelson   at   Trafalgar   illustrated   by   his   conduct   and    speech   his   su- 
preme sense  of  duty  to  England  and  her  glory. 

The  Scotchman  who  died  at  Waterloo  with  his  bagpipe  in  his  hand, 
by  the  saber  of  the  Curassier  of  the  Guard,  has  been  immortalized  by 
Victor  Hugo  ;  but  which  of  these  three — who,  of  all  those  who  live  in 
song  and  story-1—  is  more  worthy  of  the  crown  of  immortality  than 
this  boy  from  North  Carolina,  whose  grave  is  unnoticed  and  unknown. 

It  would  be  idle  for  me  to  attempt  this  evening  to  give  a  record 
of  the  achievements  of  North  Carolina  soldiers  upon  the  different 
fields  of  their  glory.  There  was  not  an  engagement  in  which  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  participated  in  which  they  did  not  con- 
tribute to  its  immortal  renown.  The  day  has  come  when  our  whole 
united  country  accords  to  them  the  full  measure  of  praise  to  which 
they  are  entitled  as  representing  the  highest  and  best  type  of  American 
manhood. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Chief  Justice  Walter  Clark,  of  North 
Carolina  ;  to  Hon.  Henry  A.  London  ;  and  to  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe  for  as- 
sistance in  securing  as  far  as  it  can  be  furnished  with  accuracy  a 
statement  of  the  number  of  troops  furnished  by  North  Carolina  and 
their  losses.  I  have  used  for  reference  the  History  of  North  Carolina 
Regiments,  edited  by  Chief  Justice  Clark,  to  which  work  he  gave  great 
and  unstinted  labor  without  remuneration  or  reward,  except  the 
gratitude  of  the  Confederate  soldier.  I  have  also  been  aided  by  in- 
formation gained  from  an  eloquent  speech  of  Hon.  Henry  A.  London, 
of  North  Carolina,  delivered  by  him  a  few  years  ago,  which  was  repro- 
duced in  the  fifth  volume  of  the  History  of  North  Carolina  Regiments, 
and  by  the  report  of  Capt.  S.  A.  Ashe,  of  North  Carolina,  made  to  the 
North   Carolina   Library  and   Historical  Association. 

For  the  splendid  organization  which  equipped  and  supplied  North 
Carolina  troops,  they  are  largely  indebted  to  the  provident  foresight, 
practical  business  ability,  and  untiring  efforts  of  Gov.  Z.  B.  Vance,  the 
great  war  governor  of  their  State,  who  thereby  endeared  himself  for- 
ever to  all  North  Carolinians. 

North  Carolina  not  only  clothed  her  own  troops  during  the  entire 
war,  but  furnished  clothing  for  troops  from  other  States,  and  when 
Lee's  army  surrendered  had  in  store  and  ready  for  use  92,000  suits 
of  uniform,  with  many  thousand  blankets  and  a  large  amount  of5 
leather.  During  the  winter  succeeding  the  Battle  of  Chickamauga, 
North  Carolina  sent  to  General  Longstreet's  corps  14,000  suits  of 
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clothing,  and  when  the  great  drama  was  drawing  to  a  close,  North 
Carolina  was  furnishing  food  and  supplies  to  a  large  part  of  Lee's 
army. 

Governor  Vance,  in  a  memorable  speech  delivered  at  White  Sulphur 
Springs,  W.  Va.,  August  18,  1875,  stated  that  he  was  told  by  Gen. 
Joseph  E.  Johnson  that— 

"When  his  army  was  surrendered  at  Greensboro  he  had  in  his 
depots  in  North  Carolina,  gathered  in  the  State,  five  months'  sup- 
plies for  65,000  men,  and  that  for  many  months  previous  General 
Lee's  army  had  been  almost  entirely  fed  from  North  Carolina." 

For  the  comfort  of  her  soldiers  when  at  home  sick,  wounded,  or 
traveling  to  and  from  the  army,  North  Carolina  established  hospitals 
and  inns  at  many  different  points  in  the  State  along  the  lines  of 
railway. 

She  did  more  than  this :  For  the  helpless  wives  and  children  of 
soldiers  who  might  be  in  distress  she  established  depots  of  grain,  salt, 
and  provisions  for  their  subsistence  and  appointed  committees  to  pro- 
vide for  them  and  see  that  they  were  not  neglected. 

The  soldier  who  was  sleeping  upon  some  field  afar  off  under  the 
stars  in  northern  Virginia  rested  calmly  as  he  dreamed  of  his  loved 
ones  at  home,  for  he  knew  if  he  fell  in  the  conflict  of  to-morrow,  that 
they  would  be  cared  for  by  the  great  State  which  sent  him  to  the 
battle  field. 

My  friends,  can  you  wonder  that  North  Carolina  is  still  to  all  her 
children  the  well-beloved  mother  and  sovereign,  whose  name  ever 
brings  to  them,  when  exiled  from  home  by  the  decree  of  fate,  that 
poetry  of  youth  and  memory  of  early  happy  days  which  neither  gold 
nor  power  nor  place  can  buy? 

If  commemorative  words  were  needed  to  perpetuate  the  fame  of  the 
Confederate  soldier,  I  should  be  all  unhappy  here  to-night ;  but  it  is 
not  so.  It  will  live,  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation,  when 
the  costliest  tombs  erected  by  the  love  of  their  countrymen  have 
perished  by  decay  and  crumbled  into  dust. 

It  may  not  seem  proper  for  me  to  make  this  prediction,  but  I  do 
so  with  a  reverent  love  for  all  portions  of  this  great  Republic.  The 
day  will  come,  though  I  trust  it  may  not  be  far  distant,  when  the  inten- 
tions and  ideas  of  the  founders  of  this  Government  will  be  disregarded 
by  those  who,  in  the  wild  greed  for  money  and  amidst  the  dissolute 
luxury  engendered  by  the  vast  accumulation  of  wealth,  have  forgotten 
the  teachings  of  better  and  purer  days,  and  the  very  existence  of  a 
constitutional  form  of  government  as  framed  by  our  ancestors  will  be 
in  jeopardy.  Then  will  be  found  amongst  a  people  regenerated  by 
fire  and  blood  that  high  and  broad  and  lofty  patriotism  which  shall 
constitute  them  the  strongest,  safest,  and  best  defenders  of  the  land  of 
our  fathers  in  its  entirety,  and  as  the  suffering  and  oppressed  of  every 
land  and  every  clime  shall  still  turn  their  steadfast  gaze  toward  this 
Western  Hemisphere,  tbey  will  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed. 

Have  we  learned  naught  from  the  silent  endurance,  the  patient 
agony,  the  deathless  valor  of  the  Confederate  soldier?  It  can  not  be. 
His  life  and  conduct  have  taught  us  the  lesson  over  again  which  his- 
tory has  ever  repeated. 

It  is  neither  on  the  greatest  fields  of  battle  nor  places  where  the 
most  calamitous  bloodshed  has  taken  place  that  the  recollection  of  future 
ages  is  chiefly  riveted.  It  is  moral  grandeur  which  produces  a  durable 
impression.  It  is  patriotic  heroism  which  permanently  attracts  the 
admiration  of  mankind.  The  day  may  come  when  the  memory  of  the 
fields  of  Gettysburg  and  Chancellorsville,  of  Fredericksburg  and  Sharps- 
100172 — 815 


burg  shall  be  diihmed  by  the  obscurity  of  revolving  years  and  recollected 
only  as  a  shadow  of  ancient  days  ;  but  even  then  the  enduring  fortitude 
and  patriotic  valor  of  the  Confederate  soldier  who  followed  the  ban- 
ners of  Robert  E.  Lee  and  Stonewall  Jackson  will  stand  forth  in  unde- 
caying  luster  amidst  the  wreck  of  ages  and  survive  unshaken  above  the 
floods  of  time. 

Friends  and  comrades,  let  us  never  fail  to  defend  the  fame  and 
achievements  of  the  brave  men  whom  the  South  sent  to  the  battle  field. 

Death,  which  destroys  the  pomp  and  power  of  this  world,  has  only 
placed  the  seal  of  immortality  upon  their  lives.  The  sawed  charge  of 
their  fame  is  intrusted  to  you,  my  countrymen  and  countrywomen. 
Guard  it  devotedly,  bravely,  justly,  and  truly,  that  it  may  remain 
untarnished- in  its  pristine  glory:  not  alone  with  this  generation  hut' 
with  all  those  who  may  come  after  us  until  time  shall  be  no  more. 
Let  the  glorious  example  left  by  them  be  preserved  for  untold  ages  and 
for  every  people  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun.  If  history  be  false, 
let  tradition  preserve  it,  and  on  every  anniversary  of  our  memorial 
days  let  eloquence  proclaim  it  as  a  heritage  for  all  humanity,  which  it 
has  elevated  and  adorned  with  a  pathos  and  glory  which  belongs  to  the 
civilized  world. 

"  Let  us  cheer  for  those  boys  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
From  the  mountain  heights  to  the  sea, 
In  the  land  where  freedom  had  its  birth, 
Where  manhood  still  is  the  highest  worth, 
In  the  hearts  of  the  noble  free. 

"  Let  us  drink  to  those  boys  who  march  no  more 
To  the  call  of  the  drum  and  fife, 
Who  sail  the  sea  with  the  soundless  shore, 
Far  out  from  the  harbor  of  life." 
100172—815 


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